Beckham's arrival in the States has been compared to Pele's attempts to keep the ill-fated NASL alive in the 1980s.

Beckham raises our profile, and we have to be ready for our close-up

MLS deputy commission Ivan Gazidis

But Gazidis told the World Football show: "It's a different time and you can't draw parallels between Pele and Beckham.

"The game has a following in this country now. We have 20 million kids playing across the country and more people watched the World Cup final last year than watched the baseball World Series.

"We're building soccer-specific stadiums right across the country and we're creating an infrastructure for the game.

"We're developing good young American players at an increasingly fast rate and 10 years from now we're going to see world-class players coming out of America.

"That in itself is not down to the David Beckham moment. This is a very big step for us, but one of many different steps to build the game up not just for next year or even the next five years, but for years to come beyond that.

"Beckham raises our profile, and we have to be ready for our close-up."

Gazidis also hit back at those who have criticised the standard of the MLS.